Check this out.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/breaking/ea-confirms-ea-chicago-is-closing-319516.phpand from the Wall Street Journal:
Electronic Arts to Shut Chicago StudioBy NICK WINGFIELD
November 6, 2007 1:57 p.m.
Electronic Arts Inc. plans to shut down its game-making operations in Chicago, as the big videogame publisher attempts to rein in costs.
The move, announced to EA employees today in a letter from EA Games president Frank Gibeau, is part of a wider corporate restructuring the company announced last week. At the time, EA said it would closed a game development center in England, but didn't identify any specific closures in the U.S.
EA's Chicago studio was responsible for developing the Fight Night and Def Jam fighting games, as well as titles based on Marvel comic characters.
In his letter to employees, Mr. Gibeau said the company's Chicago studio wasn't able to stay on a "reasonable path to profitability." He said the studio's headcount had grown dramatically during the past three years, to 146 people currently from 49 in 2004, while revenue from the games developed there has not. He said the Chicago studio had no expectation of hitting the company's profit targets until fiscal 2011 or later.
